Equestria Broken
by radioactiveratt
Summary: In this alternate universe of My Little Pony, the elements of harmony were never found. Earth ponies are shackled and put to slavery, along with crystal ponies who are fed to dragons. Smaller kingdoms reign over much of the land and war casts rage between each of the smaller kings. Plague and death spread across the land as a war rages and this is the world every pony lives in.
1. The Thief

1\. The Thief

Smoke filled the room, swirling and mixing with the pungent smell of body odor and alcohol. The smoke came from the many varieties of cigars, cigarettes and other burning drugs. There were many ponies in the tavern, most of them carrying scars and others hiding themselves in cloaks to hide their flanks or deformities. The bar tender was one of the few who actually had a cutie mark but he bore a set of antlers on his head, one of them broken in half. The waitress had a large round plate strapped to her back to hold drinks and empty beer glasses with. She was often given crude and sexually disturbing remarks that went along with hoof-slaps to her flank but she didn't mind as long as she was well tipped and well paid. Her favorite customers were the few mercenaries who actually had manners towards mares and the one strange stallion who always wore a dark cloak. She always knew it was him from the black stripe through his short white tail. He was here tonight, eaves dropping on a conversation behind him while examining some metal tools that were attached to a small holster on his foreleg while he smoked a cigarette.

"So, you know that Count Markus, the high and mighty auctioneer in Canterlot?" The pale blue unicorn said to his companion across from him.

The pegasus retorted with a disgusted snort, "Yeah, that rich son of a bitch thinks he's better then everypony else." The green pegasus scratched at some fleas in his dirty white mane while he listened.

"Well CJ and the boys are planning on a heist. It took a bit of convincing but I got everypony to agree we'd like you to join us. The pay is going to be big." He grinned.

The pegasus lifted an eyebrow in curiosity, "Oh yeah? Anything specific we'd be going after?"

Smirking, the unicorn's horn began to glow and he levitated a scroll out of one of his saddlebags. "Yup, we got a source that says he has something special hidden away in the slave stables. It's supposed to be worth a fortune." He rolled the scroll out on the table to show his companion. "Right there," he pointed to a crudely drawn square next to a much larger rectangle that was supposed to represent a mansion, "it's in this corner hidden in a box of some sort. That's why he always has his slaves so heavily guarded."

"A box, really?" the pegasus responded, "That's not very descriptive intel." He whipped his tail and took a swig of his beer before continuing, "You guys have very poor scouts to say the least. But I'll take a nip, what is it supposed to be?"

The unicorn waved a hoof in the air, "I'm not really sure, they didn't tell me but I did hear it was supposed to belong to whoever became ruler of the Crystal Empire way back when, royalty riches or something."

"You want me to join you guys just to get a box with unknown contents?" The pegasus' ears went flat as he continued to argue his point to his companion. The hooded pony that had been eaves dropping had already left, dropping off his empty cup and a nice tip to the waitress mare before exiting through the doors. As he left the heavy dank smoke-filled air of the tavern, he was greeted by the chilled air of the frozen midnight. Thick dark clouds covered the moon and stars as it threatened rain and thunder. The pony looked up to the night's sky before starting out. Around him were all manner of swamp growth and decayed woodlands. Night creatures, timber-wolves, bats and mosquitoes roamed about the small town the others in the bar called home. There were several small shacks built with rubbish, rotting wood planks and broken signs anyone could tell were stolen from another town. A couple of the larger buildings were fortified with firepower; automatic targeted weaponry but also carried a large sign of the building's name. "Crowfoot's Crap Shack" and "Doc Maggot's Slice and Dice" were among the few other shops in the town. Every building was connected with a boardwalk to safely carry oneself safely above the crocs in the swamp below.

As he walked through the twists and turns of the boardwalk, he finally came to a stretch of the wooden platform that straightened out and led to land. Once his hooves reached the soil he decided to pick up his pace and trot. He continued until he was at the edge of the forest but not visible to anyone in the closest town. He looked around. No pony in sight. He decided it was best to keep cautious and keep to the tree line until he was as close as he could get to his destination. He passed a small cottage that had a make shift bridge over a creek and a large tree that looked as if it had been built into a house. He trotted until he spotted it, the train station. Making sure there was nopony around first, he took a hoof and pulled his hood down farther before casually walking out of the foliage.

This town was a bit more refined. None of the buildings were rotting and there weren't any creatures here that could attack you but a lot of the buildings were partially destroyed. Here and there were blood stains and bullet shells that barely shown in the night. The occasional body of a pony was lying in the streets either dying or dead. The stallion paid them no mind; they were no threat to him. He entered the station of the ticket counter which had no pony at it.

_'Of course', _the stallion thought to himself, '_not at this hour.'_ He looked around and saw a machine next to the counter. It was a dull gray color and had two slots. He had seen one before though not every train station had one. He grabbed a bit out of his saddlebag and stared at it for a moment. The train could be heard in the distance getting closer and he knew he had to hurry up. Begrudgingly, he put it in the top slot. The machine responded with a click and a beep before spitting a ticket out at him. Grabbing the ticket with his teeth he walked out to the train. He stepped through the open doors and gave the ticket to a pony that wouldn't let him pass until he did so. The ticket pony gave a bitter look to the hooded pony as the stallion walked to a seat.

There were few others on the train at this hour which the stallion wasn't happy about. He'd prefer an empty car. He chose a seat farthest away from any other ponies as he could manage but closest to the door. He sat down and glanced out the window. The train pony was outside, looking around for any more passengers. When no others came he hopped back on the train and closed the doors. The train lurched forward before it was able to start on the tracks at a slow speed. The lurch caused the stallion to almost hit the seat in front of him but he caught himself before doing so. A rat fell out of his hood from the jerk of the train. The rat was sleeping on his neck quite nicely before the abrupt wake up call. The stallion put his hood down and held the terrified rat. She was a pure black color, well fed with a very clean shiny coat. She shivered before beginning to clean her face.

"Sorry about that Thief, I…forgot." The stallion said to the rat. His ears went back and he smiled at his friend while he petted her. She stood on her hind legs and put her paws on his dark colored nose and began to lick him as if to say, "It's okay, I forgive you."

The train ride was long and for most of it the stallion stared out the window. His deep blue eyes watching the world around the train pass by in a flash. He caught the occasional limping pony or dilapidated building but nothing too interesting for this hour of the night. His little black friend had begun to explore their new surroundings as she had become wide awake. She roamed the entire train car and even the other passengers, most of which were asleep. Thief jumped up onto the empty part of the seat where the stallion was sitting. He looked over to her and blinked. She had found a cookie and decided to eat it near someone familiar. The stallion rolled his eyes and continued to stare out the window.

"It was a rat! I told you so!" a young voice said, breaking the silence of the train cart but not loud enough to wake any of the sleeping passengers. The stallion looked over and flinched when he saw two small ponies, a colt and a filly looking at Thief.

"Eww! It's so gross, kill it!" The filly said to the colt as she backed away a step looking disgusted.

The colt looked to the rat and smiled, "I'm not going to kill it. It's cool!"

"But those things carry diseases! That's how they all died, disease! From those things! Just keep away from it Tinny, please!" The filly pleaded to her brother, worried that she would lose him to disease too.

"That guy's not scared of it." The colt looked towards the stallion in the booth that quickly looked away and back out the window, his ears dropped.

The filly's attention went to the stranger, examining him. From what she could see that wasn't covered by cloth or leather, his coat was a golden brown, his nose was a much darker color and he had a very short mane. The top was completely white while the sides were black. His eyes were a shade of dark blue, intense and…almost glistening in the dull light of the train. "Hey mister, how come you're so shiny?" she asked. Almost immediately after the question, the stallion picked up Thief, put her back onto his shoulder and pulled the hood up, trying to hide from the children. The cookie lay half eaten on the seat. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you!" she put her ears back and said apologetic, surprised at the stranger's reaction to her simple question.

Her brother picked up the half eaten cookie and took a bite, "See! He picked up the rat, it's not poisonous dummy."

The filly snatched the cookie out of her brother's hoof and set it back on the seat, "Rat's aren't poisonous, they carry deadly diseases _dummy_!" After she retorted her comeback at her brother, she turned back to the stranger, "Look mister, I'm sorry for calling your rat diseased." The strange pony kept his glance out the window. The rat, however, was trying to find her way out of his hood and back to her treat. The stallion put a hoof in front of his tiny friend to keep her from going back to the children and in that same moment his ears perked up with the breaks of the train.

Canterlot, a pristine city where the wealthy thrive, regardless of the war outside of their massive wall. Guard ponies roamed everywhere to keep the crime, and slave ponies, in their place. The filly and colt backed up as the stallion slid out of the seat, the half-eaten cookie lying on the seat.

"There you two are!" The stallion turned back to see another stallion yelling at the kids, "Do you want me to put the chains back on you?! Get back there right now or I'm going to have you two marked the second we get there!" The kids whimpered and scurried back to where they were originally sitting. The stallion gave the stranger a mean look before continuing after the children. The cloaked stallion watched the three ponies as they walked away for only a moment longer before he got off the train.

With his ears back he looked about the proud city, no ponies dying in the streets, no flea bitten animals roaming around and no slaves outside of their cages. Due to the number of guard ponies this city sported, it wasn't a city he fancied to steal from but he knew its layout well enough. Leaving the train station he ducked down an alleyway leading to a small canal. This water didn't have any life threatening monsters in it, just a few fish, so he knew it was safe to swim in. Stepping in as quietly as he could manage, he let Thief stay on top of his head before he went almost all the way under water. He wanted to make sure she didn't get wet. He swam through the calm hoof built river past a few buildings and under a guarded bridge, making sure to stay out of any spotlights. As he got to a fork in the canal he stopped and held onto the wall. Looking up he could see a guard standing and observing the pathway above. The stallion unlatched the bow from his leather vest harness under his cloak and pulled out an arrow from the quiver attached on the opposite side. He kicked off a bit from the wall while aiming above the guard pony's head. The arrow shot out and attached itself on a windowsill to a darkened room, the rope dangling down from the arrow. He buried himself in the water once more and waited. Neither the guard pony nor whoever lived in the house stirred. Satisfied nopony heard the arrow thud on the wood he took a hoof and grabbed the rope. He looked up at the guard pony before slowly lifting himself out of the water. He reached the windowsill and climbed in.

The room was dark with the pungent smell of old dust lingering in the room. This home hadn't been used in years. There was nothing in it but a bed of straw, a dresser and an unused candle. Nothing of value to the intruder. He continued on to a window on the adjacent side of the room from where he came in and peered out. Just down the road was his destination. He watched, waiting to see more guard ponies but none came. The stallion was a very patient pony and would wait an hour just to be safe. Watching, waiting, learning the guard's appointed path of travel. There was only one guard. He walked past the front of the mansion only once in the hour that the stallion waited, he must walk around the entire property by himself. No other ponies were outside at posts, how strange. Knowing the sun would rise within the next hour, he had to act now or wait another day. The stallion was patient, but not _that_ patient.

He climbed out the window and looked up; the roof was just within hoof's reach. He climbed up and looked around. The guard pony that was next to the canal had fallen asleep so it was safe for him to walk on the path but he wanted to be sure he wasn't going to get caught. The stallion jumped to the nearest roof and continued on. Luckily, the majority of residences were all connected together, confined to fit as many ponies as possible in one space. A couple more rope arrows provided the stallion within reach of the stable that belonged to the Auctioneer. With no pony in site, he dug his last rope arrow into the side of the building he stood on and slid down it. Now he just had to get inside of the wall. He wasn't sure when the guard pony would be back but he would be coming from his left side so he trotted right. Not too far he found an apple cart set up to sell goods that was just tall enough for him to reach the top of the wall. He climbed on top of the small wagon's roof and peered over the wall. No spot lights but there were two guard ponies. Luckily they looked a bit tired from staying up all night.

The stallion climbed atop the wall and clopped along it. Below him were some bushes that would provide adequate cover from the guards. He dropped down next to the bushes and sank low. Putting a hoof to Thief, he nudged her awake, "Okay buddy, time to find the shiny!" He whispered to the rat as he pulled her gently out of his hood. The rat cleaned her face before looking up at her master. He nudged her gently with his nose and she scurried away toward the barn. As he walked along the bushes in search of a way to the barn for himself, his cloak began to get caught on the branches, rustling the leaves. The guard ponies' ears perked up and began looking in the direction of the sound.

"You heard that right?" One guard pony said to the other.

"Uh…not sure." The other pony said trying to think clearly. He believed that it was lack of sleep messing with his mind.

"Well I know I heard something, better make sure one of the slaves didn't dig themselves out again." He replied before starting to walk in the direction of the bush. When he reached the hedges he looked around, pushing them out of the way to see behind and between them. Nothing. "Hm. Maybe it was just that damned raccoon again." He said disappointingly before returning to his post.

The stallion hid behind a crate, his cloak hidden, balled up under the same bush that claimed it. He looked around and found a safe passage to the side of the barn. Walking around to the back, he found a spot where a couple of the side boards were broken. He put his nose to the hole. It was just big enough for his head, but not his whole body. He continued around the barn and spotted a window at the top, nothing to climb up to it though. His ears went back. He continued around until he could see the guard ponies again but found no other entrances. He quietly trotted back to the broken side and looked in, moldy straw and manure could be seen along with other odd shapes in the darkness, most likely slave ponies huddled together in the frosty night air. And…something moving. Thief scurried to the stallion with something in her mouth. He stepped back and let her out. He took the object from her and examined it. It was a rock, possibly a shard of something, maybe uncut diamonds, he couldn't tell but he wanted it, all of it. He had to have it, whatever it was.

Thief ran back into the barn, the stallion knowing from his companion's leave that there was more to be had. The stallion _had_ to get inside. He _needed_ those shiny rocks. The stallion went back to the side with the guards and pulled out one of his arrows. Still hidden he aimed at a metal sign across the way, well past the guard ponies. He pulled back the string and let go. _Twang!_ The sign cried out as it was struck with the arrow. The guard ponies knew they weren't imagining that sound and ran towards it, ready to take down any intruders.

Now with no pony in the way of the entrance, the stallion entered the stables. The pungent stench of excrement and bodily fluids was enough to put a shudder down the stallion's spine but he carried on. Thief came back to him with another stone in her mouth and just like the first stone, he put this one in his saddle bags. She ran off to the back corner and the stallion followed. She led him to a pile of shadows all huddled together. The slaves. He knew he had to stay quiet or fear waking them but Thief had already done that. A little colt smiled as he petted her, happy that she returned. Two other ponies were awake and staring at the stranger who had entered their holding pen. A female unicorn used her weak magic to make a small light to try and see who it was. The glow of the horn illuminated against the stallion's glistening coat and brightened the room even further. He took a step back in the same moment the awake slaves huddled closer together and away from the intruder.

The other adult pony was a pegasus, light tan color with a white mane and tail, his wings were poorly clipped, and dried blood still clung to what was left of his wings. Aside from their many other scars, each of them had a clear mark on their flanks right where their cutie marks would be; three scars that overlapped each other making a distinct letter '_S'_ identifying them as Slaves. The beaten pegasus gingerly spoke to the intruder, "Who.. who are you? You're, you're not going to… to hurt us are y-you?" He was obviously terrified and had the most scars out of the three whom the intruder could see.

The stallion weighed in his options. Normally slaves ask for help or freedom when they can if they see an unfamiliar face. The stallion didn't have a habit of playing the hero and wasn't interested in starting. Neither was he interested in getting himself caught and becoming shackled next to them. He knew the consequences if he became a slave. Or at least, he thought he did and he didn't want any part of it. He put his ears back. He knew he had to threaten these ponies to keep them quiet. He hated hearing the whimpered cries and begging of a slave pony and he didn't want to hear it now. "I'm a slave pony murderer and if you don't do as I say, the young colt is going to be my next victim." He lied as he stared as the colt and gave a slight grin.

The slaves shuddered and huddled even closer together, the unicorn mare trying to hide the young colt.

"My friend found these and I want them." The stallion said as he brought one of the shiny rocks out from his saddle bags. The unicorn mare pointed in the direction of the corner and the stallion followed her direction. Thief popped out of the straw, the only clean pile in the barn, with another shiny rock in her mouth. After tucking it away in his saddle bag he dug around in the straw and found a box. Thief had gnawed a hole in the corner of the box as an entrance for herself but the stallion didn't have any way to get in without unlocking it. He took two long thin metal objects from black bands around his forelegs and began to pick the lock. With his expertise, it was easy enough to open and reveal the treasure inside. He stared at it for a moment, admiring its beauty before he heard the guards outside returning to their posts.

"Fuck." He whisper to himself, his exit now blocked. After putting all the contents of the box into his saddle bags he looked around, the slave ponies were still huddled together, the unicorn's light dimming from exhaustion and terror. He spotted the open window at the top. It was still too high for him to reach and nothing to get on top of to reach it. Unless… His gaze turned back to the slave ponies, the unicorn in particular. "Levitate me." He commanded.

"L-levitate you?" the unicorn frightfully asked.

"Yes. Up to that window. I can get down from there."

"But, I-I um…" the mare shook her head, "I-I can't, I'm not strong enough and I never really learned any spells to-"

"Then wake somepony else who can!" the stallion said frustratingly. Almost loud enough for the guards to hear and think it was more than just night terrors from one of the slaves.

The pegasus woke another pony, this one was pegasus mare. She was in pristine condition for a slave, hadn't even had the 'S' carved into her flank yet. The unicorn quietly explained to the pegasus mare before she nodded. Her wings were torn but not nearly as bad as the stallion's had been. While the slaves whispered to each other, Thief crawled up the stallion's leg and back to her sleeping spot on his neck.

"Um…I-I can still fly but not very well. Plum Lick said she'd try to help us." The mare said, referring to the unicorn. She spread her wings and went into the air. She was very wobbly, but was able to manage herself. She picked up the intruder stallion and began to lift him into the air. She struggled to go higher, every second took forever in the stallion's mind, and he had to get out before the sun rose and somepony came to get the slaves. With what little help the unicorn could provide, they finally made it to the window and the stallion grabbed onto it. He lifted himself up as the pegasus gratefully stood on solid ground once more. Not taking any looks back to the slaves, the intruder made his escape.

Author's Comments: I do not own My Little Pony or any of their characters. This story is completely fiction and not meant to offend anyone at all. The majority of the OC's in this story, including but not limited to: Clout Upshot, Garrett Strata, Glaciated Era, Frostwork Crystalline and Backdraft Ignition, are owned by the author herself or one of her siblings. Please do not steal any of the OC's here unless you have permission by the author of this story that you can have that particular pony because it is either not owned or no longer wanted by its owner. All ponies introduced in the story will have it stated in the Author's Comments when they are introduced, weather they have an owner and who that owner is.

Feel free to ask any questions, Ratt doesn't bite and absolutely _loves_ constructive criticism! 3

Characters:

Clout Upshot – Owned by RadioactiveRatt

Backdraft Ignition – Owned by RadioactiveRatt


	2. The Bell Tower

p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"2. The Bell Tower/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"A single pony walked down a road in the early morning light. The sun's rays were filtered through the thick layer of heavy black clouds that loomed above. The pony who walked wore a hooded shirt with no sleeves that went back almost covering his cutie mark. On top of the gray-brown jacket he wore a dark colored leather vest that bore many pockets hiding away several items, keepsakes and objects the pony deemed lucky. At the top of the vest, right at the base of his neck, was a large metal hook. Attached to it on one side was a compound bow and on the other side clung a black quiver that carried several different types of arrows. Some could be lit aflame, some were blunt points, a few had small water balloons for their tips, and there were also a couple of regular arrows. Attached to the pony's flank were saddlebags. One on either side of him strapped with leather and a buckle. Under each of the saddle bags was a dagger, hidden away in side of their sheathes. The pony's cutie mark, mostly hidden by his outfit, was a bow and two arrows arranged almost like a skull and crossbones. On all four of his hooves soft covered boots held on with two buckles that helped hide his hoof prints and clopping on any type of ground. The pony himself had a golden-brown coat with a darker colored socks and snout. His mane was very short, white with black sides and a single black stripe horizontally through his short white tail. It was the stallion pickpocket with his ever constant rat companion. They were on their way home./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"The stallion had his hood up and wished he didn't have to leave his cloak behind to the bush, knowing any pony would know what he was if any amount of light hit his coat. The two were just outside of Canterlot, a smaller settlement that housed only the poor, sick or dying. All manner of pest, scum or poor were thrown outside the massive wall of the upkeep city and left to fend for themselves. There were no guard ponies here, no slavers lived here and no pony that wished ill on others. The ponies here were forced to depend on each other to scrape a life for themselves out of Canterlot's garbage and leftovers. The stallion knew that nopony here was a threat to him, at least, no pony that lived here. Outsiders often visited cities such as this one, slavers and mercenaries looking to round up some new crop for potential customers. Judging by the calmness of the early morning, there was no threat to the townsfolk here aside from the stranger himself./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"The stallion looked around his surroundings and observed as he walked. The houses here were crudely built but the ponies that lived in them called them home. A few of the buildings were made of hardened mud or manure, most of which were either poorly built or falling apart. Some were built out of sticks and straw or large pieces of garbage. Quite a few of the houses were decorated with trinkets, trash built art or string lights to try and make their home look less depressing to the eye. The ponies here were mostly very thin and very tired, most had their ears down in a melancholy look and their coats were rotting with fungus and falling out. There were fleas and biting insects everywhere. Even the young colts and fillies were thin and looked like they had given up on life, very few were actually playing. At the sight of a stranger walking through the town, its residents became wide eyed, frightened for their lives and hid away in the closest house they could find. No pony actually claimed any of the shelters, what they had been very little and could be carried. The only ponies that didn't react were the ones that were scattered through the city and were ill with the deadly plague. The sick and dying were extremely common in these parts of Equestria. Medical ponies were few and far between not to mention they usually charged at least a foreleg and hind leg to even look at you and double it for any medications. Any doctor ponies that helped the poor were considered foolish with the bit inflation or were seen as the type to lose their patients to the cold bony hooves of death so they weren't allowed to work on the important wealthy folk. The ponies in this town did try to keep the dead off the streets as best as they could though. Massive graves were dug on the outskirts of the town where the bodies of the fallen ponies were disposed of. The dirty sewage water that flowed out of the great city's drains was all the ponies on the outside had to drink. Though it kept them hydrated, the bacteria filled water did nothing to help the poor ponies' health in any other way. Here and there were single crop plants with mostly brown leaves. A pathetic tomato plant here, a withered corn stalk there, this place was truly rotted away, eaten by the war and all it had to offer the citizens of Equestria./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"The stranger walked through the town, continuing to his new destination when he was suddenly stopped in his tracks. A pink female earth pony with a white mane and tail covered in scars along with the familiar mark of a slave on her flank walked up to the stallion. She didn't have a cutie mark but she did have two very young fillies hiding behind her./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;""I-I, um…" she tried to speak but was already regretting her decision to talk with the stranger. She looked behind herself to her two frightened daughters. The older one was a yellow Pegasus with a mane that looked as if it was once white but now it was caked in mud, blood and a few other dried liquids. The younger one was a dirty purple with some form of rainbow colors in her mane and tail. The children and their mother looked no better than the rest of the town, filthy, starving and covered in parasites./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"The stallion blinked, backed up a step and paused for just another second before walking around the unhealthy ponies./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"Summoning up the courage to ask for the sake of her children, the mother turned to the stranger. "Please," she asked softly, "Please, sir, could you spare some food? Even crumbs will do. I-it's for my girls. They haven't eaten in days." Though her foals were very thin, the mother herself was just skin and bones, practically a walking skeleton./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"The stallion glanced back to the mare's children before continuing on his way. He hated children, couldn't stand the little monsters. Their big eyes, begging, always getting into things that they should really keep their little hooves out of, and worst of all, they're always the ones who ask the most awkward of questions. em'Just…keep walking'/em he thought. He didn't have any food on him anyways and the sight of them was just.../p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"Seeing that her mother wasn't getting any response from the stranger, the older of the two fillies ran to the stallion and grabbed onto one of his saddlebags. "Please mister!" she begged him, hoping he had some kind of food to spare for her little sister. Her big yellow eyes were staring at him pleadingly./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"Weak from malnutrition, the little filly didn't have enough strength to stop the stranger but she had disturbed the items in his saddlebags. Being quite full of stolen goods, the filly had accidentally knocked a small charm out of the side of the lid. Unfortunately, the only thing holding the bags closed was a single sew on button. The charm fell to the ground with a soft clang as it unsettled the dirt below it. The stallion stopped in his tracks and looked back. The filly was admiring the trinket. The casing that the gems were in was pure gold and it wrapped around a brilliant sapphire carved into the shape of a unicorn. Its eyes and nose were made of tiny diamonds along with a diamond necklace and crown that the unicorn wore. There was a hole at the top as if it was supposed to be worn on a string; the stallion's eyes grew wide as he saw the filly reach for it./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;""Wow! It's so pretty!" she said, picking up the charm./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;""No!" the stallion whinnied, "Don't touch that! It's emmine/em!" He rushed over to the filly and grabbed it out of her hoof. He then proceeded to rub what miniscule amount of dirt the item had gotten off onto his vest./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"The filly flinched back before looking guilty. "I'm sorry sir, it was just so pretty and…" as the filly spoke she noticed a little black rodent crawl out of the stranger's hood to see what all the noise was for. It was Thief. The filly's eyes grew wide as she screamed and ran back to her mother and sister as fast as she could. "There's a, it's a, he's got a..." she continued to ramble on to her mother as her feet danced around, not wanting to stay in place./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;""What's wrong sweetie?" The skinny mare asked concerningly./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;""A rat!" she said as the words finally came to her./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"When the filly's words rang through the silent town, whispers and gasps could be heard all around along with the slamming of doors. The mother took her fillies and ran away from the stallion as fast as she could while the stallion put the trinket back into his saddle bag. The plague. Every pony knew they came from the black rats that roamed Equestria. They fed on the corpses of the dead and became infected themselves; helping to spread the sickness to even the empire's darkest of corners. The pickpocket looked in the direction the ponies ran and gave a snort. He knew differently than they did and no matter any pony's opinion, it wouldn't change how he felt about his friends. He then continued on his way, picking up his pace a bit. He wanted to get out of this town, if you can call it a town, before any pony else decided to beg him for something./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"Another distraction. As he trotted through the town and its dilapidated buildings, something grabbed onto the pony's hind hoof. Almost tripping, he stopped himself and looked back to see who took hold of his hind leg. It was a bat pony, her coat was light tan in color with a bright blue colored mane and tail though the majority of her fur and hair had fallen out. The membrane between her wing's fingers was the same brilliant color blue. She was covered in open wounds and bubbled sores; her left eye was crusted over with a sickly yellow colored ooze that dripped down her face. Hundreds of the common biting bugs were crawling all over her, not to mention the dozens of flies buzzing around her wounds. Another reminder of the plague that eerily haunts Equestria. This pony was very ill and dying, the stallion knew he could catch the plague if this pony did not let go. He pulled his hoof away and took a couple steps forward before looking back to her, his ears down. He hated feeling sorry for other ponies, he knew he wasn't going to help them. There wasn't anything he could do and even if there was, he wasn't going to lift a hoof to help; he had to look out for himself. But this pony, this bat pony reminded him of somepony he knew long ago. The sickly pony's eyes grew wide as her body convulsed. She gasped for air several times before she drew a long, painful last breath and became very still. The stallion stared and shook his tail before continuing on./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"The Great Downtrot was what this long and harsh era of Equestrian's history was known as. The rich prosper and the poor suffer. There was little to no in-between and if you were in that middle class, in that rare division, you wouldn't be there for long. Many of the ponies knew that they had to look out for number one or you found yourself in a slave cage along with your friends especially if you did odd jobs like the stallion did. Mercenaries and Freelancers could not trust anyone. Your so-called friend could sell you out in a matter of seconds if they were greedier than you were. Those ponies who participated in such acts had to be careful at what jobs they took, who they took the jobs from and if they revealed themselves to their clients or not. This particular stallion had his own way of communicating with his clients that not many knew of./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"As the stallion reached the last residence to the town, he smiled, knowing the way home wasn't much farther. His ears twitched as he heard a little squeak coming from behind him. He stopped in place and turned around. A white rat with a metal necklace ran up to him and stopped. Happy to see another one of his friends he petted her and picked her up. Sitting down, he took his other hoof and opened a small compartment in the rat's collar to reveal a folded up piece of paper. The stallion took the paper, slid it into one of the many pockets on his vest and closed the compartment on the rat's collar. "Thank you Winter." He said to the rat before setting her down. He watched as she scampered away back into the city of Canterlot./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"The stallion continued along the cobblestone laid path until he reached a fork in the road. One way headed East and the other South. A tall stick stuck out of the ground separating the two paths. It had two signs, one pointing in each direction. The one pointing to the East said "Unicorns only or be shackled!" the one to the south was scratched out so badly that no pony who didn't see the sign before could tell what it used to be. Now it only had red paint in the shape of a skull and cross bones. The path leading east looked much more maintained, cleaner but still looked used. The path to the south was cracked, broken and grown over with low growing foliage. The stallion took the southern path. He came upon a large barrier that blocked the road, a tall stone wedge withered with time and taken over by the plants around it. Old paint could be seen on the stone. Somepony had written phrases such as, "Condemned" or, "Beware! Death!" There were also a few old posters with hazard symbols on it and some, "Keep out!" signs; the area was littered in warnings. He walked over to a tree on the right that had a rope hanging down from one of its branches and grabbed hold. He climbed up to the branch with ease and jumped to the top of the stone block. On the other side for about a quarter of a mile were many pony bodies either rotting or already turned to bone, strapped onto various vehicles, their deceased families inside of whatever they were pulling when they were alive. The stallion jumped down on top of the roof of a small caravan and again down to the pavement. He began walking again, passing the dilapidated wagons, carts and other abandoned modes of transportation. He paid the dead no mind nor did he give any respect, stepping on whatever corpse or bone lay in his path and crushing it beneath his hooves. As he continued, he came to the edge of a small but once elegant town. The majority of its previous residents being of high class, they had dressed up their buildings with murals and marble carvings, most were of unicorns, their heads held high and a familiar caption that read either, "Glory", "Power" or "Might". He didn't stop to admire any of the artwork, he had seen it all before just as the majority of the Equestrian population. After turning a few street corners he came upon a very tall building./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"The bell tower. It was five stories high and if one were standing at its highest level, they could see the entirety of the small town. The entrance was turned to rubble with the collapse of another building and there were no windows within reach of pony hooves. The stallion walked around to the side of the building where an empty canal with nothing but decaying bodies and rubbish in it was built. He trotted down a broken wooden board to the bottom of the drained canal and looked to its side. The wall of the canal that was directly under the bell tower had fallen down, the edges charred and any plant life was burnt black. He walked over to the hole and went inside. A mound of dirt from the exploded wall helped him get into the ground floor of the bell tower. Inside, there was a wooden floor covered in a thick layer of dust. A small table sat to one side of the room and on top of it were many books and scrolls, most of which hadn't been touched in years. In one corner of the room was a pile of moldy straw and garbage. A few books were on the floor, some open and the pages stained or torn. A few empty bottles were scattered around the floor and on the opposite wall of the original door was a staircase leading to the second floor./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"After walking up the last step, he reached his final destination, the second floor. This room was a bit more cleaned up though it had a lot of stuff most ponies would consider junk lining its walls and floor. Three desks were in this room, only one of which wasn't littered with paintings, coins or leather bags filled with random contents. The cleaner desk had several leather straps, a pair of pliers and several bits of string and sticks. Attached to the celling was a large fishing net that held up even more items that the pony considered being priceless artifacts. Several large hooks held on by metal chains also dangled down within hoof's reach. Most of them were holding onto pouches or quivers, containing items to make more of the pony's specialized arrows. Another set of stairs was across the way from the first set and a large open window next to the less cluttered table let the stallion see out to the path he had taken to get to his home./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"The stallion unlatched his saddle bags and set them on one of the tables before unclipping his bow and quiver, hanging those on two of the empty celling hooks. He then took the note out of his front pocket and put it on the table by the window. He took his hood off of his head and Thief sniffed about, she knew she was home. As he reached for the saddle bags, Thief climbed down his arm and onto the table before scurrying out of sight. The stallion began to pull items out of the saddle bags and place them in the large pile of items. The charm that had fallen in the dirt, he set aside by itself. The strange rocks he had gotten from the mansion's slave barn he left in the bags. He walked over to the table by the window, grabbed a soft cloth before retrieving the trinket and starting to clean it up. Once the item shined to the stallion's satisfaction, he walked up the next set of stairs to the third floor of the bell tower./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"The old wooden floor of the third level creaked and groaned with the moving weight of the stallion on top of it. Around the room were neatly organized treasures. The walls of the room were covered in several different colors of silky fabrics lined with golden stitching and dotted with gemstone buttons or diamond decorated embroidery. In one corner of the room, a giant pile that was stacked almost to the roof was hundreds of neatly arranged towers of bits. Various golden statues were aligned by how much the pony saw as their value, the cheaper ones in the front and the most treasured in the back. Framed paintings stood on end in three long lines, boxed in by three wooden boards nailed together to prevent them from falling. Many trinkets, necklaces and charms that were shined to perfection were hanging from long rods that were crudely shoved into the wall of the room. A table above the statues held several short vertical sticks; each had five elegant looking rings on them. Six large barrels were stacked along one of the walls; the seventh barrel's top leaning up against the barrel to reveal that it was half full of gems. The trinket he had brought upstairs, he carefully hung on one of the rods that dug into the wall with all the others, aligned perfectly on the hook. He stopped and admired his collection, everything in its proper place and everything as shiny as it could be; not a speck of dust or a bit of garbage in this room. But what was in this room wasn't enough; he had to have more, a emlot/em more./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"Returning down stairs to the room filled with random objects that needed sorting, he went to the now much lighter saddle bags and pulled out the shards. He examined them closer than he had those few hours ago. They were very shiny, tinted blue and looked as if they were broken off of something bigger. There were six pieces in total and two fit together as if they were puzzle pieces and the rest of the puzzle was missing. Not wanting to misplace these special objects, he took them upstairs and carefully aligned them inside of an empty golden box that was decorated with all assortments of gemstones. He didn't know what the blue crystals were for but he had a feeling they were worth more than the stack of bits he had that was aching the old wooden floor./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"He looked up and stared at a string hanging down from the ceiling. He took a hoof to it and pulled it down, revealing a staircase built into the floor of the fourth level. He trotted up it. The final level of the bell tower was a wide open platform with very short walls that weren't even up to the stallion's knees. Four thick and sturdy beams shot up from the corners of the building that held the final roof, an arrowhead shaped dome with a large chain that dangled down from its center. The final link of the chain was broken off and its massive bell lye on the floor, a bed of straw and cloth inside of it and a very torn cloth hung down from the top of the bell's opening to act as a wind barrier. Outside of the bell was a small hole filled crate, a cloth covered the top of it and it held a book and a halfway used candle on top of it. The stallion walked to the edge of the tower and looked out. He could see the entire city from where he stood. Each broken stone path that led out of the city was blocked with the same heavy stone walls that prevented its citizens from escaping whatever horror lead to their doom. Nothing in the barren city stirred. The stallion in the bell tower was the only pony to call this once expanding city his home. He didn't know what had exterminated its dwellers and he really didn't care, he just loved how no one would steal what he rightfully had stolen. This was his town, his castle and his throne. His subjects are the wild animals that make nests in the broken buildings and the dozens of rats that assist him in his heists. This was his life and he was happy with it./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"The stallion gave a sigh before walking to the bed in the bell. Before entering it, he took his vest off and set it down on the floor next to the crate. Pushing aside the torn cloth, he entered the fallen bell, laid down in the straw bed and began to fall asleep./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"With the evening setting of the sun, the stallion's eyes began to open. He lifted his head and gave a yawn before shaking it from side to side to wake himself up. He looked out toward the torn cloth and through its holes he could see a faint light peeking through the still looming dank and heavy clouds. He could hear the pitter patter of rain on the roof of the bell tower and smiled. He loved it when it rained; it always put him in a good mood. He stood up and curled his back in a stretch before walking out of the rusted metal mouth. The chilled air kissed his fur and he shivered. He picked up his vest in his mouth and walked down stairs. Once he was on the second floor, he put his vest on and walked over to one of the piles on a table. He reached his hoof in which was then consumed in the various items before grabbing something and pulling it out. It was a brown glass bottle with a torn label. He twisted its bottle cap and opened the beverage. The feint smell of alcohol wafted out from the container. He took a swig before walking over to the less cluttered table and setting it down. The stallion opened a drawer on the desk that had several sharp pointed pieces of steel and took six of them out. Another drawer on the desk carried various lengths of a thin but strong rope; he took six of those too. After setting those on the table's top, he counted six sticks that were already on the top and put them in the same pile. He walked over to one of the cluttered desks and opened its drawer, retrieving a hoof-full of feathers. After having all the supplies he needed, he began to make some rope arrows./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"Once he was finished, he chugged what little there was left of his beer. He took his quiver down from where he had hung it that morning and looked inside, making sure he had a satisfactory amount of everything else. He put the new rope arrows inside and clipped it onto his vest. He took his compound bow down and attached that on his other side. He then grabbed the empty saddle bags and wrapped them around his backside, clipping the buckle in the front. The stallion looked around the room, searching for something else. He looked under the desks, sifted through the piles of items and began to search the other floors./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;""Thief," he called out, "Thief, where are you?" After being unsuccessful on the first, second and third floors, he went up to the fourth. Looking around, he didn't see his little friend anywhere. He moved the torn cloth on the bell and looked inside. "Thief, are you in here?" he asked, his voice echoing in the large metal pot. A black ball of fur lifted its head and looked to the stallion. She yawned and stretched before sitting up. The stallion gave a warm smile at her before saying, "There you are, come on, time to go see what we can get our hooves on today." The rat ran over to her master and climbed up, burying herself in his hood. He trotted down stairs but stopped at the second floor again./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"The note. He had almost forgotten about it. He looked over to the table and was glad that it hadn't blown away with the wind of the storm. The stallion walked over to the table and picked up the piece of folded paper. He sat down on the floor and opened it./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"emHey Clout, it's me. Your shipment is ready for you to pick up if you're not dragon chow or in slaver hooves yet. I really wish you wouldn't use these vermin to communicate, people are starting to avoid my shop because they think the rats are bringing the plague in. Oh, and my brother wanted a word with you when you get the chance./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"emLater./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"The signature was an unreadable scribble but Clout knew who it was from. He folded the letter back up and stuck it into one of the bags hanging down from the roof before continuing down stairs and back to the Everfree Forest./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"-/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"Author's Comments: I do not own My Little Pony or any of their characters. This story is completely fiction and not meant to offend anyone at all. The majority of the OC's in this story, including but not limited to: Clout Upshot, Garrett Strata, Glaciated Era, Frostwork Crystalline and Backdraft Ignition, are owned by the author herself or one of her siblings. Please do not steal any of the OC's here unless you have permission by the author of this story that you can have that particular pony because it is either not owned or no longer wanted by its owner. All ponies introduced in the story will have it stated in the Author's Comments when they are introduced, weather they have an owner and who that owner is./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"Feel free to ask any questions, Ratt doesn't bite and absolutely emloves/em constructive criticism! 3/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"Characters:/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; background-color: #fffffa;"Clout Upshot – RadioactiveRatt/p 


	3. The Commission

3\. The Commission

Dark and angry storm clouds hung low in the sky as the last rays of the day's light faded away to the black of night. Heavy rain poured down in buckets that began to pool together into large puddles on the ground below. The dead blades of wheat grass that littered the dirt were weighted down by the water that fell from the heavens. Large lifeless trees spotted the barren land on either side of a broken cobblestone path. Three deceased ponies lye off of the road, embracing each other in the moment they welcomed death. Their rotting bodies soaked to the bone as their flesh gave way to the weight of the liquid that beat it so mercilessly. A stray dog wandered down the road, its long wet coat making it look like a large mop head with a severe case of the munchies. She stopped and put her nose to the air. The scent of the corpses mixed and was diluted by the chilled wet air. It was faint but it was there and the dog's nose led her straight to it. She eagerly sunk her teeth into the diseased flesh and it melted away in her mouth.

Clout trotted along the dilapidated cobble path, his hood was up but the freezing rain quickly soaked through the cloth due to how heavily it poured down. He really wished he didn't leave his cloak to the bush yesterday night. He saw something to one side of the road, not very tall and it was an odd shape if it was supposed to be a pony. A young mutant perhaps? He put his ears back as he stuck to the opposite side of the pathway, not wanting interaction with the assumed child. Clout hated children. Finally being close enough to the shape to see what it was through the dense fog of the rain fall, he saw that it was a dog. His eyes grew wide and he began to run past her. The dog looked up from her meal, barred her teeth and gave way to the chase. It wasn't long before she was right up behind him. The flea bitten mutt opened her mouth, ready to bite at the stallion's rear legs. Clout stopped and kicked as hard as he could. A loud yelp and a crack could be heard from the dog that flew through the air only for a moment before she fell to the ground with a wet thump. The stallion snorted at the dog that began to get up. He quickly took out his bow and an arrow, pulling back on the string and lining up his shot. He let go. A second later the dog lay still on the old street, a single arrow sticking out from its chest. Clout glared at the body. "Fucking dogs." He said to himself before putting his bow away. He hated dogs too.

Continuing on the roadway, he came to the street sign once again that split the eastern road from the southern road. Through the static of the rain he could hear something heavy with a squeaky wheel. Clout ducked behind a small bush near the road sign and looked around. On the eastern road, heading in the direction of Canterlot was a wagon. At the front were four ponies with weather torn, water drenched coats strapped into harnesses. They were slaves. He didn't have to see the 'S' shaped scar on their flanks to know because higher ups would never put themselves so low as to pull a cart. As it got closer he could make out the rest of it. It was a large white wooden wagon with golden trim and laced with sapphire gems. The gems made elegant shapes and patterns on its sides and door. On the top of the wagon with reigns in hooves was another pony. It looked as if he had armor on him but in the dull light of the rainstorm, Clout couldn't make it out all the way. Walking behind and beside it were four more ponies which were clearly wearing armor, each of them had a hanging lantern strapped to their sides. On the back of the wagon, engraved into the wood was yet another unicorn motivational placard. He watched and waited for the caravan to pass by. The stallion wondered what could be so important that it had to have at least four guards around it. Jewels? Priceless heirlooms? A mountain of bits? With his imagination getting to him, he _really_ wanted to know what was inside.

Clout continued to follow, making sure to stay hidden to the side of the road and well behind the wagon. He thought of how he could take the guards down to access the prize inside. If he tried to take down the guards one by one they would surely notice. The slaves would be easier to subdue but then he would still have to defeat five swords so that wouldn't work and killing other ponies just wasn't his style. If only he had brought knockout gas he could take down all the ponies at once but its incapacitating effects wouldn't last long. The thought soon subsided when the realization struck him; smoke bombs and rain don't mix very well. He finally decided to just follow the caravan until an opportune moment where he could sneak into the wagon and steal its contents showed its face.

Nowhere near the small settlement outside of Canterlot, the slaves suddenly stopped in their tracks. Clout's ears flattened back as he too stopped while remaining hidden. Something wasn't right. The guards began to yell at the slaves, the driver whipping them as they protested going any farther noticing something the others didn't. Finally one of the four guards went up front to see what they were stopped for. He yelled out to the others and in response they ran up front of the cart. The stallion hidden off the road couldn't make out what it was that caused the slaves to stop. Even with the dim light of the lanterns from the four guard ponies, the dark of the night and the fog of the rain were masking it well. Something caught his attention behind the carriage. That something moved in the shadows across the street and another moved behind him. Clout slunk down low into the mud behind the bush, hoping he wouldn't be seen by whoever was near him. He watched through the leaves as seven figures crept up from all directions behind the wagon. _Bam!_ A shot rang out through the night followed by several more. They shot down the guards, killing all four that were on the ground. The one that was holding the slaves' reigns they held at gunpoint. They shouted orders at him and he obeyed, slowly getting off of the seat and onto the wet ground. He removed his weapons and set them on the cobblestone path. All seven mercenary ponies rushed the unarmed pony. Sounds of struggling, mud splashing and cries of pain could be heard from the group of ponies. One of the attacking ponies called out to the others to stop and back off. The former guard was beaten half to death, his armor was removed and he was now in shackles. The leader mercenary ordered the rest to grab the other slaves. After rounding up their prizes, they walked off in the direction of Canterlot, leaving the wagon to sit alone.

Clout poked his head up out of his hiding place. There was no pony here but the newly deceased bodies of the four guards. He looked up and down the road to make sure no one else was coming. When he had determined that all was clear, he trotted out to the wagon. It was impressive up close, even with no light to admire it since all of the lanterns were smashed in the struggle. Some pony had put a lot of work into building this thing. After collecting any bits or valuables the recently deceased guard ponies could no longer utilize, Clout tried the door of the wagon. The door was locked. He pulled a couple of long metal tools with fine bent tips out from the black bands around his upper forelegs and went to work on the lock. It came open easy enough with a soft click as most locks did. He put his tools away and opened the door. His imagination raced with what kind of riches could be locked inside the carriage. When he opened the door enough to see inside of it, his smile of success quickly turned to a frown. His ears went back and he backed up, away from the door with several fast paced hoof steps. The door stay swung open on its hinges and several pairs of eyes looked out at him from inside. Six mares sat on the dry seats inside of the door. Each of them was dressed in lace wear lined with gemstones, brightly multicolored feathers, makeup and shackles. The stallion knew what these mares were. Sex slaves. They were being delivered in pristine condition to a new owner in Canterlot. Either that or they were going to be sold at an auction and they had to look divine for the crowd.

With a soft and beautiful voice, one of the slaves rose her shackled forelegs out towards him and said, "Sir, please?" She was a very tall pegasus with a pure white coat. She had a dark turquoise faded color on hooves and her mane was a light blue that faded into purple. Her flank was blank as was the vast majority of slaves in this broken land. Her eyes were a soft violet color that looked pleadingly towards the stranger who had unlocked the door. She stared at him for a long moment. Her ears went back as tears welled up in her eyes, she could see the look in his face, he wasn't going to help.

He had been to his fair share of brothels and dipped his wick while he was there but being around strange ponies with shackles on, begging him to unlock them so they can be free because there was literally no pony else around, he didn't know what to do. Clout was not one to make friends, he always looked out for himself and nopony else. He knew the consequences of helping or trusting others and he wasn't about to start now. He swallowed hard, the pegasus was beautiful and he hadn't had some in quite a while… He shook his head, there were other things that he needed to get done. Clout turned away from the sex slaves and galloped on towards Canterlot, though his run was short lived. The stallion tripped and landed face first in the muck that covered the cobblestone. Thief fell out of Clout's hood, her coat soaked in the rainwater. Ignoring his throbbing and mud covered snout, he snatched his rodent friend off of the ground before she got any more sopping wet. With her coat still dripping, she buried herself in the stallion's mane under his hood, shivering and trying to lick herself dry. Clout pushed himself up and took a look behind him to see what he tripped on. A very tall dead tree lye in the roadway blocking the entire street. He rolled his eyes and wondered why he didn't think of it. Shaking the thought out of his head, he knew he had to hurry and get to the Everfree Forest so he could get himself and Thief dry. With how susceptible rats immune systems were to disease, he didn't want her to get sick.

The hooded stallion caught up with the mercenaries and stayed behind them so he wouldn't get caught following. He watched as they made their way through the broken city before entering Canterlot. Clout gave a sigh of relief as the slavers went off in a direction opposite of the train station. Though the weather grew increasingly cold, he was glad it gave him more cover than he normally had. Clout easily made his way through the streets and to the train. After unhappily paying for the train ticket and handing it over to the ticket pony, he stepped into the warm air of the car. He found a seat, dripped on the cushion and waited for his stop at Ponyville. The train screeched to a halt at its destination and Clout slid out of his seat, thankful for an uneventful train ride. He walked through the door of the train and was blasted by the chilled air. He shivered, his soaking clothes making the cold worse than it should have been. Clout looked around the train station and noticed significant changes from yesterday. Today there were six ponies, each sporting a different large weapon, who were standing guard. In the dim light of the train station, he could make out a large burn mark on the roof and the side of the building, bullet holes were scattered everywhere and the two windows to the train side of the building were shattered. There probably would have been blood splattered everywhere if it weren't for the rain. It was obvious they had been recently attacked and were on high alert. The guards immediately noticed him and approached cautiously.

"What is your business here stranger?" a mare guard asked. With how much more authoritative her presence looked with her pristine armor, he figured she was the leader of this small group. In the dim light, Clout couldn't quite make out the colors of her coat or mane but could tell it was some shade of a light color. She snorted at his empty response and decided to continue, "This territory is protected by an entire army and if you don't respond—" her five underlings were pointing their rifles at him.

Clout cut off the demanding mare with an unamused response, "I am no threat to your city, I am only on my way to the Everfree Forest."

The mare raised a hoof and her soldiers and they put their weapons down. "We do not allow the likes of slavers inside of our walls but because you were honest with me I shall let you go.

Clout lifted his head and shook his tail in acknowledgement before beginning to walk away.

"On one condition," the commander continued, "Two of my soldiers will accompany you to the border."

He stopped and shot her a glare. "Fine." he said as he waited for his escort. Clout was in no mood for this. He was wet, hungry and to say the least, he hated guards. He _really_hated guards. But on the bright side, it was raining. Which he enjoyed, even though it was a freezing rain. Not to mention they didn't immediately shoot him for being dressed as he was like most guards did when they saw him. Being dressed in mostly black with a hood to cover one's face usually cried out that they were probably going to do something illegal. Which so happened to be sort of a hobby for the stallion.

"Canary Blues, Tin Can, chaperone our guest to the edge and make sure he stays on path and out of trouble." The mare commanded. Both of them put an armored hoof to their helmets in salute before boxing in the stallion's sides. Clout looked to the two ponies beside him, examining them as the group began walking towards their destination. The one who identified as Tin Can was a light brown colored stallion with dark and light streaks of blue in his mane and tail. His armor looked as if it were homemade from several different armor suits. His cutiemark just so happened to match his name perfectly. Canary Blues, who flanked his other side, appeared as if she was in her late teens. Rather young for being a soldier. Her coat was bright pink in color and she sported a short yellow mane and tail that wasn't styled but pulled back out of the way. Her cutiemark was of a song bird holding what looked like a harmonica in it's beak while it was flying. Her armor was just scraps of leather and plastic glued together as if she had built it herself. Both of them were thinner than how a healthy pony should be but they were a lot healthier than the ones living in the slums just outside of Canterlot. They walked in silence for a few minutes before the young mare couldn't take the quiet a moment longer.

"Are you a crystal pony?" Canary asked. Almost in unison, both stallions stared at her in surprise. Tin then looked to Clout who turned his gaze straight ahead of himself, away from the eyes of his escorts. He was glad he still had his hood up to hide his nervous expression knowing his hoodie and vest didn't cover his flanks.

"No, I'm not." Clout said quickly with an irritated tone.

Tin examined the stranger. "You are quite shiny." He stated.

"I'm _not_ a crystal pony." He enforced. The pickpocket paused for a moment before adding, "I've just… been in the rain all day." He hoped that mediocre excuse would work on the two curious Ponyville residents.

Tin grunted while Canary decided to continue the conversation, not getting the hint that the thief wanted to drop the conversation. "Aww, that's a shame. I've never seen a crystal pony before. I wonder why they're so rare." She looked to Clout, "Do you know why?"

"No." he said bluntly.

"Well, do you know any crystal ponies?"

"No."

Getting frustrated at the stranger's lack of effort to keep the conversation going, she tried asking him something else, "Do you have a special somepony?"

Clout hesitated taking his next step, caught off guard by the random question. He inhaled and wished the mare would just shut up. "No." he said.

"I don't have one either." Canary informed, "But I've always dreamed of having a crystal pony as my special somepony. I've heard they're really shiny and pretty." She stared at the stallion and frowned, frustrated with her silent charge. "Do you know what kinds of food they like?" she asked.

"No." he said.

"How about games? Do you know what kinds of games they—"

"No." he interrupted.

"What about music?"

"No."

"Or—"

Clout halted in his tracks and quickly turned around to face the yellow coated mare. "What will it take for you to shut up?" he blurted out, unable to take her talking a second longer.

Canary stopped and stared at the glaring stallion. Her ears went back as she took on a determined look. "I want you to talk." She said.

Clout scowled and snorted at her.

"I want you to at least answer one question, truthfully."

"No personal questions." Clout retorted.

The young mare's expression grew a little disappointed before she answered, "Fine, no personal questions, but you can't answer with just a 'No.'"

Clout turned and began walking away again as he fumed to himself about the irritating teenaged soldier.

Tin leaned in to clout and half whispered to him, "It's not just you, she does this with everypony. Be glad you don't have to live with her."

Clout nickered at Tin Can's remark.

Canary smiled as she thought of her question and happily voiced it, "What happened to the crystal ponies? Like, why are they so rare?"

"I don't—" Clout stopped himself and gritted his teeth, deciding it was best to change his answer. He took in a breath and sighed. "They're all dead or worse." He said in a melancholy tone.

"Or worse?" Tin thought aloud.

"Dragon food or slaves to King Sombra. Nopony else is allowed to have a crystal pony." Clout said.

"But aren't there any free crystal ponies?" Canary asked.

"No," Clout responded, relieved to see the border. The three continued in silence until they reached the edge of the town. The two guards halted while Clout continued, picking up his pace.

"Wait! What's your name?" Canary called out to him.

Ignoring the young mare's question, Clout continued on and trotted out of sight of the two soldiers. He clopped along the familiar boardwalk of the Everfree Forest's black market. He passed the bar, the doctor's shack and a few small open booths that were decorated with products, produce and a couple selling shivering work foals. He came upon an oddly designed building that was made of decaying swamp trees, foliage and lanterns. The trees were broken apart, twisted, bent and tied together to shape a disfigured pony head with the mouth being the entrance. The foliage was on the top to make its mane and the lanterns were arranged to make hideous looking eyes. The opening of the mouth was a dark colored sheet decorated in beads of all different colors. The beads weren't in any particular pattern but scattered all over the entire piece of cloth.

Clout put a hoof out to move the cloth so he could enter but before he could, a little filly popped her head out. She had a rainbow colored mane that was braided, her coat was blood red and she was glaring at the stranger who stood in front of the door.

"Piss off asshole!" the filly said angrily at the stallion for no particular reason.

Clout put his hoof down, stood in place and stared at her, unsure how to react to the foul mouthed child who looked about a year shy of getting her cutiemark. He finally decided to just walk around her.

"Who said you could go in huh? You want me to kick your ass?" she asked angrily as she came out from behind the curtain, causing the thief to back up due to the little spitfire not understanding the meaning of personal boundaries. The rest of her tiny frame was the same red as her face, including her tail. She had a lighter colored belly and tip of her fox-like tail. The strangest thing about her were her front paws.

Clout was unamused, cold and wet. He had no patients for this or any other child. He hated children. "Look, I just came to—" he started but was quickly interrupted by the filly yet again.

"I said beat it!" she growled, "You want me to rip your balls off?" She took a step towards the stallion threateningly.

Clout put his ears back and opened his mouth to give a comeback but before he could, another pony rushed out of the shop. He stood between the two facing the filly. He too had a rainbow mane and almost the same coat pattern but he was a light shade of purple instead of red. He also had hooves on his forelegs and paws on his hind legs. His cutiemark was a large white tied bag with the word 'Swag' on it in black letters.

"Crimson Kit, this is daddy's friend, you don't attack him okay?" he said to her calmly.

"Fuck you ya dick!" she whinnied, "I'll attack whoever I want and you can't tell me what to do!"

"Why don't you go inside and play with your toys okay?" the mutated stallion asked, "If you do, later I'll take you to go wrestle an alligator."

She looked at him with a skeptical expression on her face. "Fine, but it better not be one of those pathetic tiny ones!" she said as she whipped her tail and turned to go inside.

As soon as the filly was inside of the makeshift building, Clout put his ears back once more and looked to the other stallion. "Nice bouncer you have there Merchant." He said.

"I know, isn't she just so adorable?" Merchant purred.

"Wow Merch, I didn't know you liked them so young." Clout said, smiling and teasing his good acquaintance.

The purple stallion was taken aback, "I don't like her like that, she's my daughter!"

The pickpocket chuckled, "Yeah, I kinda figured that. But I've never seen her before. A whore just dropped her off at your doorstep?"

"Nah," Merchant waved a hoof in the air, "me and my ex trade her back and forth every year. I normally just find some old couple to pawn her off to but the two I normally give her to kicked the bucket so I'm kinda stuck with her. But actually, it's not that bad. She has the cutest little attitude, just like her mother."

Clout looked towards the cloth door. "Is it safe to go in?" he asked.

"Yeah, she won't bite. Come on, let's get you dried off." He said, pushing aside the drape.

Clout walked inside, "Would be nice, it's fucking freezing out today." As he entered the shack, he was almost blinded by the difference in lighting. The ceiling was covered in lanterns of all shapes and sizes that illuminated the room. The air was warm with the scent of burning pine from a fireplace behind the counter. The walls were lined with shelves and bookcases filled with all assortments of ancient artifacts, rare books and magical scrolls. There were a couple of aisles in the middle of the room with boxes of arrows, bullets, rope, plastic tarps and several cases of hoof held weapons locked in glass boxes. Behind the counter on either side of the fireplace were gun racks filled with all assortments of firearms and bows. Above the fireplace was a cork board with pictures of customers showing off kills of other ponies, mostly unicorns in formal wear. Under the counter protected by more glass were several smaller guns and boxes of grenades. Behind the counter, Crimson was sitting by the fireplace with her blanket, pulling the heads off of some pony dolls and playing a game of Sacrifice To The Volcano God by throwing them into the fireplace one by one and cheering while they melted.

"You have a very morbid filly." Clout commented.

"Yeah, I know but she's just so much cuter that way." Merchant said, "So, you look like you jumped in a pool. Why don't you dry off your clothes, I'll go get your parcel."

"Thanks Merch." He said as they both walked behind the counter. Clout moved a chair next to the fireplace and took off his saddlebags, bow and quiver, setting them on the seat. He woke up Thief who promptly jumped down and curled up next to Crimson. The little filly petted the rodent a couple of times before returning to her game. Merchant opened a hatch behind the counter and climbed down the ladder. Clout took off his vest and hoodie, hanging them on the chair to dry with the heat of the fireplace. Both the stallion and his duds dripped on the floor and made puddles. The light of the fire glistened off of his golden coat and spotted the room with lights. Crimson looked up from melting her toys.

"You look like a fucking fairy princess, what did you do? Dump glitter all over your coat?" She said as she snorted a laugh.

Clout glared at the filly and opened his mouth to respond but before he could get the chance, yet again, Merchant popped his head out of the basement ladder hole and spoke for him.

"Crimson Kit, you be nicer to daddy's friends." He scolded as he exited the hole, "and he's a crystal pony so he can't control how shiny his coat is, he was born that way just like we were born with paws. Now apologize to Clout."

She glared at her father and decided to change the subject, "The Fire God demands more sacrifices!"

"I don't care, you apoli—"

She put her paws in the air and shouted, "More sacrifices!"

"Alright, alright, fine, I'll get you more dolls just, don't burn any more of the artifacts than you already have, they're not toys and they're expensive." Merchant said. He put his ears down and looked to clout, "Sorry man, she's just a filly and…"

The crystal pony shook his mane, "Don't worry about it. Hey, is that my package?"

Merchant picked up the package and gave it to Clout. "Yup, here you go." he said, "Brought you a towel too."

The crystal pony gladly took the towel and dried off Thief before drying himself. "Thanks."

"Ya know, " Merchant commented, pointing a hoof in Thief's direction, "you really ought to come up with some other way of communicating. I don't particularly care for those things." As soon as he saw Clout's glare he fumbled his words to not offend his friend, "I mean, that is- Come on, you know it's not good for business. I know they ain't any harm but not everypony knows that. Besides, it takes too long for my messages to get to you. Why don't we use a bird or something else that can fly?"

Clout took a step back and shuddered. If it was from the comment or the cold, Merchant couldn't tell. "I fucking hate birds." He said in a sour tone.

Merchant gave his friend a small smile, "You hate everything but your damned rats. Just think about it, okay?"

The thief looked away and gave a snort as he finished drying himself off. Then he remembered, "Merch, I need a new cloak. One of your waterproof ones again."

Merchant's eyes looked past the counter and to a partially empty hanging rack where several bits of cloth dangled from their broken and bent nails. "I think I might have one left of dragon skin but you know that's gonna cost you and I know how you are with your coin when it comes to purchasing anything for yourself other than flank."

"It's been a few years since I've had to buy a new cloak and I don't want Thief to get sick like my last companion did." Clout looked to the pale purple pony, "I think there's a piece or two I haven't gotten attached to still in my saddle bags."

As Merchant went to collect the dragon cloak from the rack, the thief went through the items in his saddle bags. There wasn't much left since he had taken the majority of the valuables out at the bell tower but there were still a couple of small necklaces and rings he hadn't bothered with before. They didn't take up much room and he always kept at least something just for occasions like this. After giving his trade, he examined his newly purchased dud. It was surely real dragon's hide and not a fake as quite a lot of the valuables were. Most of the time, the shopkeepers kept the original pieces for themselves, had replicas created and sold the replicas in its place, raking in the gold as they continued to have more made. Only those with a keen eye could tell the difference. As Clout examined the cloak, he could see that the outer scaling was tough but flexible and had a green tint to its darkened tone as if somepony tried to dull down the natural brightness of the dragon's color with some kind of magic spell. The inner padded layer was a soft goat-hide leather with careful fabric stitching to hold the material onto the mass of dried flesh that once belonged to a great beast. In between the two pieces he could feel more cloth, some sort of thick padding for extra protection. His good acquaintance obviously did not cheat him on this trade and he was grateful for it. He swung it over himself and tried it on. The cloak covered the vast majority of his body and slightly dragged on the floor but he knew once he had put on his other duds it would fit properly. Destroying his admiration of the cloak, a voice broke through the silence.

"That color makes it look like something took a crap on you." Crimson said with a snicker.

Merchant sighed at his daughter who was still sitting by the fireplace.

Clout frowned and took off the cloak. "So, you said your brother wanted to see me? You know I don't see clients Merchant. That's what you're for."

"Ah, yeah but, this is my brother. He's asking me on behalf of a client of his own so this wouldn't really count." Merchant said, continuing before the crystal pony could give his retort, "But, I also wanted you to get something for me too."

Clout cocked an eyebrow.

"Well, through the… irregular means I get my information, I have been informed that there is an up and coming journalist by the name of Inkwell that has taken to writing a piece that's supposed to be put into the Canterlot's Daily Gallop. I don't know where he lives but I've heard he's a zebra with wings or… something like that so hopefully that'll get you what you need to find him. Now I know that paper is usually chalked up to be superstitious hype and blatant gossip but this particular article, it's about the Everfree Forest's black market and they added in something that I don't really consent to them writing about." he paused for a moment, "It's us." The stallion took a hoof and scratched at the back of his head as he watched the thief's eyes narrow. "I don't know how they found out or who's supplying them with the information but it says how I get my merchandise through illegal means of thievery and how a lot of the stolen objects can be found in my shop." He put his hoof back on the ground. "I don't really want everypony you've stolen from coming after me to get their stuff back Clout. I need that article destroyed. I don't care how you do it but, it can't be published."

Clout nickered, "You know the usual fee."

"Of course." Merchant responded with a smile.

"So, your brother…" Clout said, changing the subject back to its original topic.

"Right," the purple stallion said, "I think he's over at Doc Maggot's." Knowing how that sounded, he cleared his throat, "He's got an addiction to dust but the Doc knows he can make a better profit off of him by keepin' him high rather than curing him."

Clout snorted a laugh. "Alright." he said as he put on his still damp, but drier than they were when he took them off, hoodie and vest back on. He reattached his bow, quiver and saddlebags before he threw on his new cloak. He grabbed his parcel and stuffed it into one of his saddle bags, the small box nearly filling the entire space of the leather container. "Thanks again, I'll see ya later." He picked up Thief who ran up his leg to sit at the back of his neck, sniffing at the air. The crystal pony threw up both the hood of his hoodie and of his cloak before walking out of the shop.

Merchant waved a hoof to Clout as he left before he quickly noticed Crimson got bored of waiting and had a bag of gunpowder in her paws, ready to throw it into the fire.

The hooded stallion trotted through the makeshift town towards a building made of rotting wood. The rain had settled from its earlier downpour to a light drizzle. His hoof steps made wet sloshes as he stepped along the boardwalk. There was hardened plaster, stained from time that looked like it was oozing out of all the cracks and seams of the building. The vast majority of the door was covered in old dried blood stains and above the door scrawled in large black ink were crudely drawn letters that spelled out 'Doc Maggot's Slice and Dice.'

'_So inviting._' he thought. As Merchant had already stated, Clout hated many things, hospitals being one of them as well as the many objects inside.

He pushed open the door with a hoof which felt like it was about to fall apart at the slightest touch but by some strange miracle did not falter in the slightest. Inside was mostly caked in the dried blood of his patients, or as Clout thought of them: Doc Maggot's unfortunate victims. By the front door and to his right was a desk, not so bloodied but recently cleaned, with a few folders stuffed with papers, a couple of pens and three patient charts. It was pretty obvious that nopony cared about confidentiality here unless it was something they could blackmail you with. Straight ahead of Clout there was a small room that lacked a door with at least five gurneys stuffed into it, all but one had somepony resting on it. They seemed to be all recovering from either an injury or illness or perhaps slowly dying from it. Behind the front desk with no curtain to hide it was a gurney. A small wheeled table which held many sharp and bloody surgical instruments and needles was between the left side of the bed and the desk. A couple of IV stands stood toward the front of the bed and several large machines that were set on keeping a pony alive during what the doctor here considered surgery had been stationed behind the head of the gurney and to its far side. Behind the farther machines on the bed's right hoof side was a curtain divider, possibly hiding another 'surgery room' behind it. To the left of the operating section was a door, possibly leading to an office or consultation room. Or a room to discuss the terms of their blackmail. Clout hated hospitals.

The light blue nurse at the front desk gave a sweet smile and pushed away the part of her gold mane that had fallen into her eyes before speaking. "Why hello there sir," she said in a sweet voice, "welcome to Doc Maggot's clinic, how can we heal you today?"

Clout could imagine being strapped to one of the gurneys and being helpless as the doctor and his assistants sliced him open, ripped out his internal organs to sell to other ponies who were willing to also put their lives in the hooves of somepony who could have been paid a hefty price to offer them surgery so he could fix their problems, only to let them expire on the chopping block. He shuddered at the thought. "I am not here for me." He said, putting an emphasis on 'not,' "I was told Flight Risk was here. I need to talk to him."

"Oh, yes. He's here." The nurse informed, "He's speaking with the doctor right now, they should be out shortly."

Just a few minutes later, the door to the consultation room opened and two stallions walked out. The first was an orange colored pony with a charcoal mane and tail. His mane was pulled back and tied, probably for surgery purposes, and he wore a doctor's coat that had dried blood stains on it that made him match the unessesarily bloodied decor of his office. The other stallion was cream colored with an odd, almost neon rainbow arrangement of color in his mane. The wings at his side had the same tint of turquoise blue from his mane for their feathers. His front legs had hooves and his back legs has paws. His tail was long and skinny with a tuft of purple fur at the end, a mutation mostly only seen in unicorns so a pegasus having one was stranger than his back paws. This stallion had a sack in his mouth that he proudly carried toward the door. He stopped mid trot when he saw the hooded stallion.

"The thief, right?" The tan stallion asked after taking the bag out of his mouth, "I've been waiting for you."

Clout snorted, "Looks like you've been making a deal to me."

"Well, that's just because I was tired of waiting. My name's Flight Risk by the way but I'm sure my brother already told you that." Flight Risk stated, "Why don't we go find a more… roomy place to talk. Away from eavesdropping ears."

After a short walk, they ended up at the Crippled Stallion, the most favored bar and tavern combination in the Everfree Forest. After walking into the familiar smoke filled room that was filled with ruffians of all shapes and sizes, Flight Risk ordered a room for the two of them to talk in private. While the barkeep was occupied with the mutated pegasus, Clout quickly procured a couple of Krimp Bars from one of the drunk and passed out patrons. They were the cheapest of foods but he didn't feel the need to waste his bits on cardboard granola bars when they were just sitting readily available on a nearby table. The two walked up the flight of stairs and opened one of the many doors in the hallway that led to Flight Risk's temporary room. It was a small space, just enough for a bed, a desk and a shelf. There was one window that was positioned above the bed that only showed the darkened, damp world they retreated indoors from. The rain outside looked like it had finally stopped. The room was covered in a fine layer of dust that the keepers of the bar hadn't had time to address and the floor had three bullet holes in it where smoke from the bar below seeped up into the room from. It wasn't the best of accommodations, but at least it was private enough for their conversation.

"So," Flight Risk started after Clout closed the door, "there is something I would like you to acquire for me. It's a will. With the tragic recent death of Lady Chrysanthemum Blue, her children are left to the poor house. And seeing as their local orphanage closed down, they'll probably be sold into slavery. My employer has made it very clear that they stay out of slaver hooves, so, we need that document."

Clout's ears drew back as he snorted, "Lady Chrysanthemum? I haven't heard any recent nobility news involving her. Besides, why don't you just go get it yourself high and mighty mercenary? You couldn't afford my price anyways."

Flight scratched at the back of his head with a hoof, "Well uh, the nobility hasn't gotten the news yet I don't think. And besides, just because I'm a mercenary doesn't mean I can do as clean a job as you can. You have quite the reputation for your skills." Flight said as he gave a smirk, "I know your price, Merchant told me what it is and don't worry, I can pay. My part of the job is done. I just couldn't find where the hell she hid it. Thought it would be a good idea to have a second pair of eyes to search the place, one who can make sure they weren't seen when they go snooping around for it." he said, trying to convince Clout he was the best pony for the job.

"Hmm, is that what the private room is for? Not wanting anyone else to catch wind of your job? Alright," the crystal pony responded, "I'll do it. But you pay half now. The other half when I finish the job and you better not cross me."

* * *

Author's Comments: I do not own My Little Pony or any of their characters. This story is completely fiction and not meant to offend anyone at all. The majority of the OC's in this story, including but not limited to: Clout Upshot, Garrett Strata, Glaciated Era, Frostwork Crystalline and Backdraft Ignition, are owned by the author herself or one of her siblings. Please do not steal any of the OC's here unless you have permission by the author of this story that you can have that particular pony because it is either not owned or no longer wanted by its owner. All ponies introduced in the story will have it stated in the Author's Comments when they are introduced, weather they have an owner and who that owner is.

Feel free to ask any questions, Ratt doesn't bite and absolutely loves constructive criticism! 3

Characters:

Clout Upshot – RadioactiveRatt

Rising Star – RadioactiveRatt

Flight Risk - RadioactiveRatt

Merchant – RadioactiveRatt

Crimson Kit – RadioactiveRatt

Any character that is not mentioned in the list above but is mentioned in the story were just created as background ponies and do not have any image made up for them on any of my social art sites. They were made using random colors just for the purpose of description. If any descriptions match that of your or your friend's oc or someone else that you know of's oc, it is completely coincidental. If you want me to change it then you're out of luck. They'll probably only be in the story once so too bad. Yes, I'm a dick. Deal with it.

("Dust" is a drug equivalent to cocaine in this universe.)


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